Home is a heart
by Eaasybugboy
Summary: After years of sailing the seas and traveling through the realms, Killian Jones understood one thing, home isn't a place. It's never Neverland or Tallahassee.


This is just a one shot I wrote while I was on vacation after a prompt I made on tumblr, **_:_**

_**Things I want for season three** Emma and Killian to have a talk on the ship about home, Emma thinking Neverland is Killian's home, telling him about how she thought Tallahassee was her home. And then Killian telling her that after travelling across the seas and the realms, he understood that home isn't a place, but you find it with a person._

__I'm currently working on Six Times for those who are asking, so it's gonna come back very, very soon. Thanks Montana for betaing, and for you Ash, I hope you like it, it was definitely a first for me!

_I hope you enjoy ! _

* * *

"Having trouble sleeping?" Hook's voice came from behind her, almost making her jump. The night was deep and only the stars were lightening the dark blue sky. Emma's hands gripped the rail of the ship, her nails digging into the old but nevertheless heavy wood.

"Seems like I'm not the only one", Emma replied, side-eyeing him as he walked toward her until he was at her side. Scent of leather, rum and sea overwhelmed her, or maybe it was just the ocean and nothing else. Truth was, and she would never admit it, that there was something reassuring in that leather and spicy scent, something that felt, or smelled, familiar.

"I thought you'd be pleased to see that I take my duty as a captain seriously", Hook chuckled and gave her a crooked smile, the wind playing with his hair that was much longer than the first time Emma had laid eyes on him.

"Since when do you care about what I think, Hook?" Emma shot back sharper than she had intended to, but her tone didn't seem to offend the pirate; if anything, he seemed amused, as if he was laughing at a personal joke Emma didn't get.

Since Hook didn't seem to be in a chatty mood Emma let her eyes wander over the horizon, Neverland looming over them with its hills and impressing forests; funny how a few years ago Emma would have referred to the timeless land as a warm home she had been craving for.

Now it was just a terrifying land that had taken her son, one hostile place Emma wasn't looking forward to exploring.

"You're thinking about him?" Killian asked, cutting her reverie short. "Your lover", he added when Emma turned to him with confusion. "Baelfire."

"Ex-lover", Emma felt the need to correct him despite her confession to Neal a few days ago; she had begged him to stay and told him she loved him because she thought she was sure of her feelings, but once the shock of the moment had passed, uncertainty was all what was left.

Love, such a complex and unfamiliar emotion she only got a chance to feel once in her life; she felt that she started to understand it slowly only now, with her son and her family.

She didn't really know if love, like the one her parents shared, was the right word to describe her feelings for Neal.

It didn't really matter now.

"Is he? You seemed quite attached to the man", Hook noted, her answer surprising him greatly judging by the way his eyebrow shot up before he let his stare wander over the island rising at the horizon.

"That's none of your business; for a revengeful pirate you seem to care a lot about stuff that's none of your concern."

Hook didn't reply, just smiled to himself and remained silent; he didn't leave, he stayed at her side which was unexpected, or maybe it was just that Emma was used to being alone.

She found the pirate's presence comforting; having someone at her side was new but it felt familiar at the same time. Emma eyed the man discreetly, hoping he wouldn't notice or she would never hear the end of it. Hook looked different than he was when Emma had found him; there wasn't that hatred lingering in his eyes, those blue eyes that could read her so well. She hated that Hook had been right; Emma was indeed thinking about Neal, but not in the way he was implying.

"Is Neverland your home?" Emma asked him out of nowhere, the pirate shifting his weight from one foot than the other; her question seemed to make him uncomfortable, which wasn't really something she had expected.

"I wouldn't call that bloody place home… not anymore."

His tone was distant and telling her that Hook didn't want to talk about that anymore, but it he thought she'd let it go, he didn't know her at all.

"What do you mean?"

Hook shook his head and smirked as if something was funny.

"Since when do you care?" He asked her and tilted his head to the side, a cocky grin pulling at his lips.

"Maybe I do care about you", Emma teased, not quite knowing if she was just playing him or she did really care for the pirate; for sure there was something about him that made her tick… maybe it was because they were so alike.

Hook used to say she was an open book but she had seen it in his eyes too; loneliness, the look you got when you never landed anywhere, never found home with anybody.

The information had taken Hook off guard, so off guard that he stayed silent, just staring at her and trying to process her words, trying to find out if she actually cared for him or not.

Not letting him figure it out and solve the enigma for her, Emma straightened and changed the subject.

"When… When I was younger I used to dream of Neverland."

"Neverland? "

"Yeah", Emma nodded, feeling more breathless than she should. "When Nea- Baelfire told me about finding a place to call home it was my first answer: Neverland."

Her explanation seemed to leave HookooHoHook speechless; Emma's first instinct was to believe that he was bored with her… maybe she had crossed the line, said something that would make him back off.

"Home of the lost boys…" Hook said dazedly before meeting her eyes, their gazes locking together, "…and lost girls."

They just lost themselves in each other's eyes for a long moment, Emma trying to understand what he meant by that while his blue ocean eyes were seeking the answer in her green ones.

It was Hook who looked away first, but only to talk.

"It used to be my home, too, a long time ago, or the place I thought could've been home."

The words hung in the air, Emma taking every bit of information with interest, looking at the pirate with a soft expression; she did care about him.

"Neal and I… we were supposed to go to a town named Tallahassee. Our Neverland, I guess."

"Strange name", Hook commented. "What happened?"

Emma took a deep breath as she looked away from his dark form, surprised by his curiosity.

"We never made it", it wasn't the whole truth, but Emma couldn't bring herself to talk bad about Neal, not even after what he had done to her because it wasn't like it mattered now; he was dead.

Hook didn't seem convinced; he raised an unbelieving brow at her and waited for her to continue.

"It was supposed to be our home", Emma said with a dreamy voice, remembering all too well that time with Neal but finding herself not regretting it anymore, or at least not the way she used to.

"You know, love, from what I've seen so far in my many years, and many travels, home is never a place", Hook told her, careful not to meet her eyes. "You find home with someone, and it doesn't matter where you are."

He finally met her gaze, his eyes shining with a light Emma had never seen in a man before; he looked like someone who cared.

And he was looking at her.

"Where's your home now?" Emma dared to ask, not sure if the answer was something she could handle hearing, but still needing to know.

The supposed to be fearsome pirate stared at her for a long minute, his eyes seeking hers as if he was trying to tell her just by the penetrating look of his too blue eyes what he couldn't utter out loud.

For someone who had never walked on eggshells around her it was an actual first.

But Emma found that she was quite glad Killian was the one with her; Killian, because there was actually no trace of Hook on that ship that very night. There was something between them that should've scared her but didn't, the lingering and meaningful stare Killian Jones was giving her only making her shiver and taking her breath away.

Not able to take the intense moment anymore but needing to give him a sign that she wasn't running away, Emma offered him a smile, her hand brushing over his before she headed back to her cabin.

Home.

The word echoed in Emma's head until she fell into a heavy, dreamless sleep.

The hopeful but shy smile that drew itself on her lips that night never quite left her.

* * *

Who would have thought that Storybrooke would still need its sheriff once the curse was broken?  
Emma rolled her neck and sighed as she tried to finish her paperwork before heading home. It had been two months since Neverland and she never took a day off; she didn't need or want one despite David's many offers to take over for a while so she can enjoy her new life.

The thought of her having a new life made her smile.

She had never believed in fairy tales and Henry could testify to that; it had taken a piece of bad pie and Neverland to finally believe in them.

"Emma? " A voice pulled her out of her reverie and she looked up to see Neal awkwardly entering the station.

"Hey", Emma said evenly. "What do you want… is everything okay?" She asked him worriedly, studying his features and noticing how tired he looked.

"Don't tell Granny I don't sleep well or she's gonna stop giving me pies", Neal laughed as if trying to lighten up the atmosphere, then scratched his head and showed his hands in his pockets. "I wanted to talk to you."

"That I can tell", Emma said, her hands on her hips; she hated the way he could still make her heart beat fast, even if it wasn't for the same reason anymore.

"Are you happy?"

Emma narrowed her eyes, his question taking her completely off guard; it took her a while to answer, not because she was uncertain, but because she wanted to be careful with her words and choose them with hope that he would understand and never bring that topic up again.

"I am happy", Emma breathed out and it was as if a heavy weight lifted from her shoulders and chest; it was the first time she admitted it out loud.

Neal took a step closer.

"Are you sure about that?"

Emma furrowed her brows, dropped the papers on her desk and sat on it with arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Why are you asking me that?"

Neal looked up at the ceiling uncomfortably.

"I once made a promise to give you a home…" He started, but Emma cut him off quickly.

"Neal…"

"This isn't about me trying to get you back, I understood it, I just… I just want to know.,." He took another hesitant step. "If you are really happy."

Despite the awkwardness of the situation, Emma found herself smiling.

"I really am."

Neal's features smoothed considerably.

"So you found your own Tallahassee."

"I found him", Emma corrected in a heartbeat, remembering all too well the conversation she shared with her pirate. "I found Killian."

Neal smiled, but it seemed a bit forced and Emma could tell that he wasn't one hundred percent happy with her answer; his beef with Killian was just too big, and so were his feelings for her.

But she had only told him the truth; on her way to bring her son home, Emma had found her home. It wasn't in Neverland, the place that used to save all the lost boys and girls from the terrible loneliness, but with Killian.

Neverland couldn't save her just like it couldn't save Henry; they didn't need to be saved because loneliness was no longer a threat.

They had each other.

Emma had found Killian, or was it Killian who had found her; Emma couldn't quite tell, but at this point in the story it didn't really matter.

She highly doubted that her mother and father knew who was saving whom.

"Then I'm happy for you", Neal finally said, a warm smile that used to make her heart race drawing itself on his face.

"Thank you. I really hope you find your happy ending too, Neal", she replied, and she meant every word.

And then her once upon a time lover left her alone, for the very first time walking away because he wanted to, not because he listened to somebody else telling him that he should.

"So you found me, love?"

Emma whirled around, her heart beating so fast that she was afraid it would explode.

"Don't do that! You almost gave me a heart attack!" A hand remained on her chest as she tried to calm down, and Killian leaned against the door frame, his fingers playing with the tip of his hook.

It would be lying to say she wasn't hypnotized with the gesture, but she gathered her thoughts and stood up to her full height, arching a defiant brow.

"So you're eavesdropping now?

The pirate, _her _pirate, chuckled as he walked to her, taking his time, his steps light but sure.

"Pirate", Killian whispered in her ear, his hand resting on her hip and pulling her closer.

"You're spying on the sheriff", Emma told him with a smile, lifting her chin up to meet his too blue eyes. "I'm pretty sure it's a crime."

Killian didn't seem to care about the legality of his actions, and if she was being honest neither did Emma, not when he was so close and even less when he kissed her, his lips claiming hers; their tongues brushed against each other, the kiss familiar and new at the same time, the spark between them still lingering on her lips when they broke apart.

Admiring the way his eyelashes caressed over his cheeks, Killian keeping his eyes closed, a smile of content appearing on his lips, Emma left a kiss at the corner of his mouth which finally made him look at her.

"Let's go home", Killian said and took her hand in his, memories of their first adventure flashing in her mind, of another time and another place when he had said the same thing.

_Home._

This time Emma let him take her home, trusting him with her whole heart.

* * *

_**Review?**_


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